Christian influences spread into Celtic lands by the year 800, and Pope Boniface IV declared November 1 as All Saint’s Day. This day was a time to honor all saints and martyrs. This was considered an attempt to replace the pagan holiday with a church sanctioned holiday.

Also referred to as ‘All-hallows’ or ‘All-hallowmas’, the night before was called ‘All-hallows Eve’ or ‘Halloween.’ Two-hundred years later, the Church again stepped in and made November 2, ‘All Souls Day’ in honor of the dead. Same as with ‘Samhain’, bonfires, parades and festivities took place, and costumes of angels, saints, and devils became popular. These three celebrations became known as ‘Hallowmas.’

European immigrants coming to America brought costumes with them, but rigid Protestant beliefs in New England hampered celebrations. An American version of Halloween started to develop as European ethnic groups and American Indian groups meshed the celebration with their own beliefs. Again, the harvest was a focal point, and gatherings always included stories of the deceased, fortune telling, dancing and singing. Ghost stories were apparent in Colonial celebrations, and mischief making abounded. By mid-19th Century, autumn festivals were abundant, but Halloween itself was not mainstream yet.

The 1800s with its influx of immigrants, especially Irishmen fleeing the country’s potato famine, popularized Halloween more so than previously. Using both the English and Irish traditions, an American culture of Halloween celebration sprung up, and going door-to-door started. Young women took to making predictions on their husbands’ futures using yarns and mirrors, and by the late 1800s, Halloween became more a time of community than a serious holiday. Ghosts, witches, and pranks were less commonplace. The holiday lost much superstitious and religious ties.

Individuals look forward to the last night of October no matter what their ages! Halloween means a celebration of individuals of all ages running around in their costumes and parties with friends, neighbors and relatives. It’s a time when people can and do wear what they want and eat sweets voraciously. Halloween was not always this way however. The origins of Halloween date back thousands of years, to a festival that was Celtic, called ‘Samhain’ (SOW-IN).

Celts lived in what is now the United Kingdom, Northern France and Ireland some two thousand years ago. ‘Samhain’ was their New Year and came each November 1. This period was the beginning of the winter months and marked the end of summer and harvest. It was a time of cold and darkness. Therefore it became associated with death, and ‘Samhain’ was considered the crossing over of the dead and the living.

Ghosts of the dead were believed to walk the earth again on ‘Samhain’ causing trouble and destruction to food supplies. Druids, who were Celtic priests believed it to be easier to predict the future at this time, and the whims of nature were thought to be prevalent. The prophecies made by the Druids brought comfort and solace during the long, bleak winters.

The Druids made bonfires and sacrificed animals and crops to the Celtic Gods. They also were in costumes, and made these costumes of animal skins. They wore the heads of animals and made predictions to each other while wearing these and they told each others’ fortunes. These bonfires were also considered sacred and after the celebration, the hearth fires were lit from the bonfires.

Romans eventually conquered the Celts territories and ruled for four-hundred years. ‘Samhain’ was combined with a Roman festival called ‘Feralia’ and another called ‘Pomona’. ‘Feralia’ was a celebration of the passing of the dead, while ‘Feralia’ was the Goddess of fruit and trees. This is how ‘bobbing for apples’ got started in modern day traditions as ‘Pomona’ used the apple symbolically.

The United States reigns with costume parties around Halloween. Children, adults and teens that are over the age of going door to door dress up instead and attend parties. Movies are rife with instances of costume parties in the United States.

Mardi Gras time, in Louisiana and other parts of the United States also draws many costume parties. Books and movie releases abound that carry a Halloween costume party theme, and science fiction and fantasy events all favor Halloween themes. Even Oscar parties that were focused on Lord of the Rings were in essence costume parties, and Episode I of the Star Wars trilogy were celebrated by a costume party. Harry Potter theme parties are also costume parties.

In the United Kingdom, ‘Boxing Day’, with a man dressed as ‘Wolverine’, the ‘X-Men’ anti-hero heralded the 2006 festivities, as ‘Boxing Day in Wigan’ is still popular with its fancy dress amongst revelers.

The Royal Family favors fancy dress parties, and these are popular all year round in England. Prince William of the British Royal Family celebrated his twenty-first birthday by having an ‘Out of Africa’ theme closely related to the movie of same name. On the other hand, Princess Beatrice for her eighteenth birthday chose an 1888 theme party, while in January of 2005, Prince Harry made headlines by wearing an Afrika Corps uniform with a Nazi armband to a costume party. Ms. Bridget Jones, on the other hand, favored a classical ‘tarts and vicars’ style theme for her latest party.

The largest outcry came against Prince Harry however, and he was splashed across tabloids in his costume, especially in the Sunday tabloid, ‘News of the World.’

The roots of the holiday are as such: Shortened in name from All-Hallow-Even, taking place on the evening of or before ‘All Hallows’ Day’, or ‘All Saints Day’, this prior Pagan holiday was a day of festivities in Northern Europe. Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV were responsible for allocating the Christian Feast of ‘All Saints Day’ from the dates of May 13 to November 1. The move was initiated in order to supplant the original Pagan feast with a Christian Feast Day. Because of the measuring of sunset to sunset, according to the Florentine Calendar, the days of ‘All Hallows’ and ‘All Saints’ were now the same day.

The Irish tradition of ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ is still respected and followed, and the terminology remains the same. Festivals that occur are referred to as ‘Samhain’ or ‘Oiche Shamhna’, to the Irish, ‘Samhuin’ to the Scottish/Gaelic, ‘Calan Gaeaf’ to the Welsh, ‘Allantide’ to the Cornish and ‘Hop-tu-Naa’ to the Manx. Some parts of Ireland also refer to Halloween as ‘pooky night’, using the mischievous spirit, ‘puca’ as a basis for the folklore.

Magic is considered most potent during Halloween, and it’s considered a liminal time of the year. Irish tales of the ‘Sidhe’ abound as well as tall tales throughout other cultures, and ‘witch lore’, tails of witches and hobgoblins abound throughout the world.